Day 6: A Snowy Thursday !

 

Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? Well, I won't know unless I try. My original Day 6 blog can be found here.  There was also a supplemental blog on this day in 2019. It can be found here.

Reading through my original blog, I realized that Tigger passed on this day. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years already ! I was only home because of the plumbing issues. Had that not happened, she would have passed alone. I'm glad I was here to hold her and comfort her. I think of her often as I still believe she started the fire by jumping from the stovetop to the top of the fridge. I suspect she accidentally turned on a burner when she did that. Thanks to her my house was gutted and remodeled at no cost to me. I also received all new furnishings. I truly felt blessed and I hope she is snuggled up with Pooh on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Having pets is wonderful but it always hurts so much when they go. I miss all of them !! Tigger was approaching age 18 when she passed, so she lived a fairly long life. Still, it is never long enough !

My day 6 blog also talked about the office closure. At the time I didn't know I would still have a job but I felt that if I did, it wouldn't last until I was 67. Turns out I was right about that, but I'm still grateful for the 5 years I did get. It allowed me to get my finances in order and be better prepared. At least now I have my pension, social security and my IRA. I'll be fine !!!

I think it was 16 when I got up this morning and it's only 23 as of 3:40 pm. I just got done taking down the lights and other decor on the front porch. I took some of it upstairs and brought down the containers for the tree ornaments.

I spent the morning watching YouTube and playing Cookie Jam. The storm chaser I watched the other day is live streaming from Arkansas today as there's a winter storm pushing across the southern US. It was snowing pretty good here when I got up shortly after 9 and Doug came by the plow. I am going to owe a fortune in plow costs this winter ! There is snow in the forecast almost every day between now and Wednesday. The only good thing is temps are going to rise into the low 30's.

I was on the fence about going to rock & roll bingo last night and I'm glad I did, since it was just Kim, Joe and me. We had fun and Joe came close to winning several times. I had my usual pizza and beer, along with 1 chicken tender. There was no snow on the way down but on the way home I ran into snow at Central Square. It was light and the road was still in good shape, but between Parish and Mexico it had snowed more and the road was coated. There was no traffic so I just took my time. It was snowing pretty good but I could still see just fine. It was barely snowing in the village but by the time I went to bed my road was covered. I haven't looked out to see how much it snowed. I'm not going out again until Sunday so I don't much care .. lol ! Sunday we're celebrating Barb's birthday at Kim & Joe's. For whatever reason Barb and Lauren want to learn how to make Beef Wellington, so that is what they're doing. Barb is also bringing lasagna and salad, so that is likely what I will eat ! I asked if I could bring anything and Lauren said no. I'll probably bring a bottle of wine.

I happened to see a camera notification of one of the stray cats walking along the side of the house, so I went to the back door and called to him while sweeping the snow off the step. I was hoping he'd hear me and come back and he did ! I left the inside door open while I quickly warmed a can of food and put it out for him. When I peeked out a few minutes later he was digging in to the 2nd bowl I had put out. I'm glad I was able to get him some food ! I haven't seen any of the other strays, but it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow so it's possible they may find their way back. We'll see !

Breakfast today was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup. I got a yogurt out but never ate it. I really wanted waffles with peanut butter, so I made 2 Eggo waffles (180 calories) with peanut butter. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt.

It was so windy last night and I'm realizing that the buildings across the street used to block most of the wind for me. It was 61 in my bedroom when I went to bed last night, so I ended up grabbing my electric blanket and plugging that in. It was so nice to warm the bed AND ME up ! I probably had it on less than an hour but it really made a difference when it comes to comfort ! I have it plugged into a heavy duty extension cord for safety. I wasn't awake super late but I slept until 9 am, which is unusual for me. I guess that nice warm bed was just super cozy !

I didn't realize today was supposed to be such a snowy day. Most of the schools in Onondaga county were closed and our schools were delayed 2 hours. There is a chance of snow showers Friday night and Saturday morning but there is no snow in the forecast Sunday, which is great ! Since I'm going out, I may make a quick stop at Walmart if I need anything.

One thing about being unemployed/retired, I sometimes lose track of the day of the week ! That's because I'm no longer waiting for Friday or dreading Monday ! Every day is the weekend ! Every day is vacation ! Every day is a holiday ! It's actually awesome !

For some reason, all I want to do today is eat. To that end, I finished the potato wedges tonight for dinner. I also had 4 chicken tenders with way too much ranch dressing. Earlier today I had put the bag of tenders in the trash but pulled it right back out because today is Thursday and trash isn't until Tuesday. So that planted the seed to crave them and ultimately eat them. Of course, after I ate them I was kicking myself for it. Well. I finally figured out how to get rid of them without them sitting in my trash for 4 days. I wrapped the bag of tenders in a puppy pad that was on the dining room table and headed for the trash. I grabbed that and the bottle of ranch and set it out in the garage on top of the garbage bin. It's cold enough that it won't spoil and smell, and I can guarantee I won't be going out there to retrieve it ! I should have tossed them this week, but I opted not to put the bin out and didn't even think about it. They came back to mind last night when I put my Nutrisystem food away. So now I'm fat and full and disgusted. Perhaps this is a good lesson. I still have one chocolate chip muffin left and I'm going to have that for my evening snack. That will be the end of the non-Nutrisystem food ! I think tomorrow I will force myself onto the treadmill. I need to get the exercise started and it's a fitting "punishment" for overeating today. I had said Wednesday night's would be my "treat" and I blew that out of the water tonight ! I'm sad, because I plan to weigh myself in 2 days and was really looking forward to a good drop. I keep reminding myself it takes 3300 calories to gain a pound. So even if I took in an extra 3300, it would only result in a 1 pound gain. I can't use that as an excuse to stuff myself, but I can use it to keep myself from getting discouraged and giving up.

Even though I took down all the lights and decorations on the front porch, I haven't taken down the tree yet. Since I didn't, I decided to light it tonight and enjoy it one last time. It's definitely coming down tomorrow ! I'm proud of myself for taking everything upstairs that I took down today. I usually let stuff linger instead of taking care of it right away. I'm trying to procrastinate less and sometimes I'm successful and sometimes I'm not. It's very clear that I have a lot of work to do if I'm ever going to have a healthy relationship with food.